Ad Perpetuam Memoriam
by Himura Seraphina
Summary: An odd little fic that my odd little mind conceived of without my consent. DaineNumair, not linked to any of my other fics. update: fixed the format errors, RR please!


A/N: I don't know where this fic came from, or why it decided to come to me. It popped in my head one night, and the only way to get it out, short of exorcism—which would exorcise _me_ as well—is to write and publish it. So, here it is. You know the drill: read it, review it, (hopefully) love it.

P.S: For the benefit of this story, I said that 453 H.E. (the date given at the beginning of _First Test_, which has no bearing on any of my fics) was two years after the end of RotGs, making Daine eighteen and Numair thirty-two at that date.

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or setting, only the deranged and insane method in which both are arranged in this fic. Don't sue, don't lynch, and don't ignore me!

**Ad Perpetuam Memoriam**  
**Himura Seraphina **

Where shadows and sunlight met under an ancient willow tree, where grassy bank and rippling book touched and waving branches kissed the cool waters, in an otherworldly place amid an otherwise normal forest, a graceful stone monument rested, seemingly untouched by sun, rain, wind, or age. Though it was mere yards from the Palace of the sovereign of Tortall, a crown held by the Conté line for six generations, amid the Royal Forest and accessible to many, there was a stillness much like that of a temple or holy place—space which, while of this world, was touched by another, by the spirit or hand of the gods. That sense of immortality kept some away, those who were disturbed by contemplation because looking inward showed them that which they did not wish to see. Still, others came, to think or reflect, to dream or imagine. And others, a mere few, came at any time, undisturbed by the scared feel of the air, taking comfort in it, or simply accepting it as a part of the world and, therefore themselves. They felt bound to the stillness, and through it, connected to that which it marked as an eternal reminder of that which had been and had passed.

**Hic Sepultus**  
**Numair Salmalin**  
_born  
**Arram Draper  
421 H.E. – 503 H.E.**_

_Born One Man to Become Another  
Called Betrayer While in Truth Betrayed_

_Who Lived the Words  
**Nam Et Ipsa Scientia Potestas Es**_

_Who Gave All for King, Queen, and Realm  
And Chose All Three to Serve_

_Who Faced a Man With All the Might of An Empire  
Yet Dared to Speak and Think His Own Words_

_By His Voice Does One Man Live a Tree  
And One Tree Walk as Man_

_Champion of Friendship, Faith, and Fidelity  
Learned in All Arts of Magic and Science  
Who Gave More to His Arts Than Ever He Gained_

_As Traitor, Exile, Peasant, Juggler, Spy, Teacher, Mage, and Hero  
Was He Known  
But At All Times a Student of Life  
A Man of Honor  
And Unfailingly Human_

_But First, Last, Always  
Known By Those Titles Which He Chose:  
Lover, Husband, Father  
Grandfather _

_He Who Was Teacher Became Student  
And Learned That Which Was Truth Beyond  
All Knowledge of Book and Spell  
**Amor Est Vitae Essentia**_

_For Every Battle Won, Spell Cast  
And Deed Sung  
Are Pale Specters of Greatness  
Overshadowed By the Truth of His Life  
To Love and to Be Loved by  
One Woman  
His Wife  
**In Aeternum**_

_**Hic Sepultus  
Veralidaine Salmalin neé Sarrasri  
**called  
**Daine the Wildmage  
435 H.E. – 503 H.E.**_

_Born Both Bastard and Godborn  
Daughter of the Mountains, Woods, and Hills_

_Who Proved the Words  
**Miseria Fortes Viros**_

_Who Became A Woman Only Through the Loss  
Of All That Was Dear_

_Who Stood Before Empire, Emperor and Self-Styled God  
And in Face of It Both Laughed and Wept_

_Defender of All People, of Two Legs, Four, or None  
Who Walked the Realms of Human, God, and Death  
And Was Touched By Chaos' Hand_

_Who Loved Her Enemy and Defied the Gods  
To Speak on His Behalf_

_Bastard, Orphan, Madwoman, Exile, Mage, Healer, and Hero  
Who Gave Voice to Those With None  
Who was Named Chosen and Bearer of Change  
And Whose Love for all That was Beast  
Made Her Yet More Human_

_Who Was, Above All Things Mortal and Immortal  
Daughter, Lover, Wife  
Mother, Grandmother_

_Who Found That Survival, Strength, and Honor  
Were Not Enough to Truly Live  
And Found in Life  
**Omnia Vincit Amor**_

_All Sights, Wonders, and Truths  
Found in the Realms of the Divine  
Held not the Glory nor Greatness  
Which Were Found in One Place  
The Presence and Embrace of  
One Man  
Her Husband  
**In Aeternum**_

_To Those Two Who Have Gone  
Having Touched the Lives of King and Emperor  
Beast and Man  
Soldier and Peasant  
Friend, Comrade, and Child_

_Into the Peace of The Black God's Embrace  
Into the Wonders of the Realm of the Gods  
Shall You Find Rest Where You Will Never  
Be Without Cause or Purpose_

_To The Eternity Which You Have Earned  
With Blood, Sweat, and Tears  
Do Those Who Remain, And Who Follow, Send You  
Knowing That Only Together Do You Venture  
Into the Unknown_

_**Sit Tibi Terra Levitas  
Pax Vobiscum**_

Where shadows and sunlight met under an ancient willow tree, where grassy bank and rippling book touched and waving branches kissed the cool waters, in an otherworldly place amid an otherwise normal forest, a graceful stone monument rested, seemingly untouched by sun, rain, wind, or age.

Yup, I'm weird.

That's the fic, but I know some of you are frothing at the mouth about now, wanting to know what those random bits of gibberish are, so here's the Latin-English translation:

**Ad perpetuam memoriam **– to the eternal memory (of)

**Hic sepultus **– here lies buried…

**Nam et ipsa scientia potestas es **– knowledge is power

**Amor est vitae essentia **– love is the essence of life

**In aeternum **– for eternity

**Miseria fortes viros **– adversity tests strong men and women!

**Omnia vincit amor **– love conquers all things

**Sit tibi terra levitas **– may the earth rest lightly on you -- a benediction for the dead, often inscribed on tombstones and gravestones

**Pax vobiscum **– peace be with you (plural)


End file.
